


Redemption

by Selanda



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-01
Packaged: 2018-09-21 06:06:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9535064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selanda/pseuds/Selanda
Summary: He wasn’t hiding, or so he told himself. He was trying to dull the plethora of feelings... pesky human feelings. He wanted it to be real. Then the floor dropped out from his universe.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Acts 1 and 3 occur simultaneously, as do Acts 2 and 4.
> 
> Related tracks: Puddle of Mudd - Blurry, Seether - Broken (f. Amy Lee)

_\--- Act 1 ---_

He slumped into a well-worn dark brown leather sofa in one of the nicer dens of iniquity that LA had to offer, suit jacket cast haplessly over the back of the cushions. Looking more than a week past properly shaved, his normally pristine white dress shirt was rumpled with the cuffs unbuttoned and sleeves rolled partway up his forearms. 

A myriad of substances laid out on the coffee table. ‘Plain sight’ his Detective would have said. He chuckled quietly to himself, he doesn’t remember when he started referring to her as “his” Detective… The possessive feeling tearing at him before being quickly quenched by the reminder that it was all a lie. Before him sat evidence of favor after favor that he cashed-in for attempts to chemically dull the feelings for just a few hours at a time. 

Unfortunately being away from her meant he was immortal once again. A fact he realized rather quickly after the first needle failed to pierce a vein. Tossing the syringe aside in frustration he cursed loudly then dropped his head into his hands. Immortal metabolism meant black-out-drunk wasn’t a possibility but otherwise-lethal-to-human amounts of drugs gave him a few hours of sweet solace from reality. He picked up a mug from the table and swirled the murky dark orange liquid contents causing pale wafts of steam to escape. Hot orange tea, a healthy measure of whiskey, and enough ketamine to knock out half a dozen humans. He downed nearly a third of the liquid in the first swig. Somewhere in the distance a radio played, background noise to drown out the sounds of the city. As he polished off the remainder of the mug, he sat back into the soft leather and slowly closed his eyes. 

_\--- Act 2: Lucifer’s subconscious ---_

He found himself watching a blurry soundless vision of Chloe crying into Dan’s shoulder, Trixie clinging to her leg and sobbing as well. He tried to move closer, to speak, to comfort her, but felt as though he was moving through jello. He stood helplessly watching the scene play out. 

He tried to turn away but found himself instead looking at a very different scene; he and Chloe on the beach, just before she had kissed him. He stared intently, feeling eerily out-of-body watching himself, except the scene doesn’t play out like it had. Instead this time after she kissed him, he sweeps her off her feet and carries her off the beach. 

He sees the scene blur like ripples in a pool only to refocus as he watches himself and Chloe enter her apartment, he watches domestic bliss unfurl, a proper family dinner with Trixie, loving touches… He desperately wants that to be real but the more he yearns the blurrier the vision gets until it dissolves into nothingness.

A new scene fades into view, this one looks like a small beach wedding, and he feels as though all the air has been removed from his lungs. He sees himself standing in a crisply pressed suit, grinning widely, as his Detective stands before him in a deep red dress that floats just above the sandy platform. Between them stands Amenadiel in his angelic robes, his great black wings extending past each side of the small space. Before them a group bearing the familiar faces of family and friends. He watches from afar, speechless, as it plays out before him. Watching himself take Chloe’s hand and her smile as he fits a ring to her finger, watching everyone cheer as they kiss, watching as they’re congratulated by the group of witnesses. A tear slides down his face at the realization that this is what could have been. Maybe…

As that scene ripples out of existence it’s replaced this time by he and Chloe seeing Trixie off to her first day of High School. His dear Detective looking a bit aged but he still felt a pull in his chest as he studied her features. Beautiful as always. He noted only a small expanse of grey gracing his otherwise unblemished black hair but he looked physically no older than when he first met her. He pondered quietly how Chloe would have explained angelic aging to the other PTA moms. A small chuckle escaped his lips followed by a deep sigh as the images faded away.

_\--- Act 3 ---_

Across the city Chloe was sitting in Ella’s lab, hands in her hair, staring at a map of the city pinned to the wall. A small push-pin denoting each place they’ve searched for Lucifer without any luck. Places they knew he’d frequent, places with people who owed him favors, places where people might go looking for a deal with the devil. Devil, she reminded herself, capital-D, no other man could have gone to hell and back for her. 

After his disappearance, Chloe had sought company with Linda, Maze, and Ella, hoping that they might know where he disappeared to. They had spent the first week sitting in Chloe’s kitchen, crowded around the table. The first night they briefed Chloe on the “grand plan” it took to save her life. Each detail, everyone’s part, how even Dan helped… Subsequent days spent trying to dissect where he would have gone and checking off location after location. For the past three months they’ve been adding push-pins to the map, checking off location after location, all without any clue closer to his location.

She and Ella spent the better part of the morning marking each location and trying to think of new ones to search. He hadn’t taken his car so the network of city traffic cameras were useless. Ella figured he did that on purpose to avoid being found. Maze suggested he wouldn’t have gone anywhere he would have been easily recognized. Linda surmised he would want to seclude himself because he often brought up self-pity and self-worth issues although luckily unable to do serious harm to himself.

_\--- Act 4 ---_

Just as she was about to break for yet another cup of station coffee Dan threw open the glass lab door, a panic look painted over his face and very nearly out of breath. “One of our informants was with an undercover team for a drug buy, said they found something you’re going to want to see.” 

Abandoning her coffee and grabbing for her keys, she sprinted after Dan as he rushed toward the parking garage exit. Feeling her heart pounding in her chest she clicked repeatedly on the unlock button as she neared her cruiser. As Dan was giving her the address she pushed him toward the passenger side as she yanked on the driver’s door handle roughly. She then all but threw herself in the seat as she simultaneously started the car and slammed her door shut. Dan hadn’t managed to get his seat belt fastened before she peeled out of the parking garage. Foregoing hers completely she sped down the streets, weaving around traffic and blowing through traffic lights with reckless abandon.

The closer she got to the location the stronger the feeling of unrest that sat at the back of her mind. Would this be another dead end clue? Did they find anything useful? Did they find him? Surely Dan would have said something, unless it isn’t good news… An impossible number of thoughts collided as she slotted her cruiser in an open space near the undercover team’s vehicle. The first thing she noticed was the crime scene tape blocking the entry way. Her heart nearly dropped out of her chest as she ducked under the stretchy plastic barrier. 

She stopped in the first room and surveyed the scene. Looked clean enough, someone kept it well taken care of, a few things out of place but nothing beyond ordinary for a day’s use. As Dan slid under the police tape a member of the undercover team pointed to one of the doors dotting the perimeter of the room. 

As she slowly walked up to the door handle, she stilled her fingers wrapped around the knob, contemplating what she might find on the other side. With a sharp inhale she twisted the knob and pushed open the door. It looked like it was done up as some kind of ‘man cave’, dark colored walls and dark furniture, fine leather and marble, and there motionless on the plush sofa was Lucifer; chin tipped down against his chest, arms limp at his sides, attire disheveled. In front of him a table with every kind of drug imaginable and a mountain of cocaine that would make Tony Montana twitch with anticipation.

She sprinted next to him, carefully dropping herself down on the sofa as to not disturb his body. Fearing everything she carefully reached up to check for a pulse just as Dan reached the doorway she’d left behind. Feeling the weak sign of life she collapsed sobbing tears of relief into his chest as she wrapped her arms around his midsection. Fearing now that she found him if she let go he might vanish, she clung to his shirt like her life depended on it. 

Dan, fearing his ex-wife’s reaction to be negative, asked quietly “Is he…?” 

Without lifting her head she mumbled a barely audible “he’s alive” between sobs.

Unsure of what to do to help the situation he quickly asked “Should I call an ambulance?”

Lifting her head her eyes met Dan’s, “How do you plan on explaining THIS to them? How would we explain any of this to a hospital? No. I’ll figure something out.” She turned back to him and started shaking his shoulders gently, trying to wake him.

After a few attempts with no response she took his left hand in hers and gently rubbed her fingers over the back of his hand and asking quietly for him to wake up for her. Minutes passed before she noted Dan stepped away and she was now alone in the room with a very unconscious Lucifer. She did the only thing she could think of, she started praying. If you call cursing out the Holy Father and berating his lack of parenting skills as praying. 

Letting go of his hand she repositioned herself, snuggling into his right side with her head under his chin. She wrapped her arm over his midsection and started talking quietly in hopes hearing her voice would wake him. She told him how much Trixie missed him, how much she really did love him regardless of whatever his Dad decreed, that she couldn’t stop searching for him, about how she felt this hole in her chest every time someone mentioned his name.

_\--- Act 5 ---_

She felt him stir gently beneath her as he started to wake from his drug-induced oblivion. He glanced down and as their eyes met he was instantly awake, pushing her across the sofa and shouting “I have to be dreaming still! This isn’t real!” As he started to stand, she feared he might run again so she did the only thing she could think of - she launched herself at him, pinning him to the sofa’s arm and straddling his waist. Her arms pinned to his shoulders as he struggled against her.

“You’re not dreaming! Stop! Lucifer!” As soon as his name left her lips he froze. Eyes to the ceiling he spoke sounding defeated “Hallucinations... that’s a first… haven’t I been punished enough yet Dad? How much more must I…” His tirade was silenced by a rough kiss. After a few seconds she felt his shoulders relax and took that as her cue to withdraw but not before brushing her nose against his as she leaned back. He sighed at the loss of contact. “It’s really you, isn’t it Detective?” He sounded shocked.

She nodded with a small smile, “I’ve been looking for three months, you’re a hard man to find when you don’t want to be found.”

His facial expression dropped, replaced with defeat and embarrassment. “Chloe… I didn’t mean to cause you any grief, I knew it wasn’t real, I didn’t want to be Dad’s pawn anymore.” His tone of voice was more akin to a troubled child than a man older than humanity itself.

She took one hand under his chin and lifted it gently so their eyes met, “It was always real.” She nuzzled into his nose as their foreheads met, a whispered “I love you” escaped her lips. 

He sat upright taking Chloe with him in his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face into the side of her neck. “This is real,” he whispered softly, “I’m not dreaming, you really and truly do love me for me… I’ve finally earned my redemption.”


End file.
